Red Deer 65 



Cervus (Elaphus) elaphus, H. Smith, in Griffith's Animal Kingdom, vol. 

 iv. p. 90, v. p. 367 (1827). 



Cervus primigenius, Kaup, Jahrb. Mineral. 1839, p. 168. 

 Cervus priscus, Kaup, op. cit. p. 297 (1839). 



Cervus (Strongyloceros) elaphus, Owen, Brit. Foss. Mamm. and Birds, 

 p. 472 (1846). 



Characters. — Height reaching to 4 feet, or 4 feet 6 inches, at the 

 shoulder. Antlers rounded throughout, normally with a bez-tine and more 

 than five points ; when fully developed, forming a more or less distinct 

 cup at the crown, the brow-tine rising close to the burr, and frequently 

 longer than the bez, and the fourth tine not specially enlarged and not 

 situated in the same plane as the portion above, but in fully developed 

 specimens more or less completely included in the terminal cup. Tail 

 rather long and pointed, and the light caudal disk of moderate dimensions ; 

 ear longer than half the head ; general colour of adult summer pelage 

 typically reddish brown, of winter pelage grayish brown ; mane not 

 markedly darker than rest of coat, and under-parts lighter than the back ; 

 no white on the muzzle. Cry of male in the breeding-season a distinct 

 roar, somewhat like that of a leopard. 



Although the great cupping and complexity of the crown of the antlers 

 of the typical European red deer indicate great specialisation, yet the red 

 summer pelage, which is evidently a retention of the colour of the fawn 

 and of that of the sikas, as well as the comparatively long tail, shows that 

 in some respects the species is more generalised than several of the Asiatic 

 forms and the wapiti, in which the red tinge is more or less completely 

 lost, spots never show themselves in the adults, and the tail is shorter. 



Distribution. — Europe, North Africa, Asia Minor, and Northern Persia. 



a. European Race — Cervus elaphus typicus 



Cervus elaphus germanicus, Desmarest, Mammalogie, vol. ii. p. 434 

 (1822) ; Fitzinger, Beitr. Landesk. Osterreichs, vol. i. p. 317 (1832), SB. 

 Ak. Wien, vol. Ixix. part i. p. 573 (1874). 



Characters. — Height at shoulder reaching to about 4 feet (often less in 

 Scotch examples) ; face comparatively short and blunt ; general colour of 

 pelage of upper-parts reddish brown in summer and grayish brown in 



K 



